


Don't look so down for tomorrow the moon will rise again

by LoserLife592



Series: my sword, my shield; my life, my dream [3]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I feel like we don't take about the tone dial enough, I love him okay, Post-Thriller Bark, Thriller Bark and Brook's backstory give me so many emotions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-12-14 03:21:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21008891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoserLife592/pseuds/LoserLife592
Summary: In the fifty years Brook aimlessly wanders the fog-covered waters of the Florian Triangle, he listens to the tone dial countless times.(Or, I'm rewatching the Thriller Bark arc for the 100th time and still having 9000 emotions about my fav skelebones man)





	Don't look so down for tomorrow the moon will rise again

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from the English translation of 'Bink's Sake'  
Of course I have song recs for this fic. He's a MUSICIAN.
> 
> Weighty Ghost by Wintersleep  
I Must Cry Out Loud by Mother Mother  
Funeral by To Kill A King

In the fifty years Brook aimlessly wanders the fog-covered waters of the Florian Triangle, he listens to the tone dial countless times.

He plays it over and over, sings along with the voices of the deceased, and finds meager comfort in his misery.

On this ship, half tortured and half consoled by the apparitions and mirages of his former crew, Brook sometimes forgets he’s human. He no longer requires food or water—he’s a skeleton now after all. He no longer has organs that demand sustenance, no longer has skin to care for, doesn’t even have lungs with which to breathe air. He can’t even feel pain anymore.

Because of this, coupled with the haunting sight that greets him every time he catches sight of his reflection, Brook almost forgets he’s person.

He’s also alone. Isolated from the rest of the world. Surrounded on all sides by thick, impenetrable fog. It feels as though he may be the only one creature in existence.

His only solace of sanity is the tone dial. The voices of his old friends and him, joyfully singing even in their last moments. It reminds him of who he is. Reminds him of what he has left. Reminds him that he _exists_.

For fifty years, it is all he has.

* * *

For all accounts, the last song of the Rumbar Pirates is lively and upbeat. Their voices are strong and cheery, the music their instruments produce is beautiful and carefree, and the way they sing and play is warm and jolly. But as the song continues, it’s obvious that this is a final ballad. The voices and instruments fading away one by one, coupled with the faint sound of bodies hitting the floor.

Towards the end, there’s Brook’s voice as well. No longer singing but talking. Joking and light then heavy and sorrowful as he counts down.

_“Where is everyone? This has turned into a quartet.”_

Thud.

_“A trio…”_

Thud.

_“…A duet.”_

Thud.

_“…A solo.”_

The music doesn’t falter even once. It remains as lively as it was when the song started.

_“What is this? Why is the accompaniment the last to go?!”_

The piano fades out slowly. It’s followed by a thud. After that a long, empty silence follows.

* * *

Luffy has only heard the last song of the Rumbar Pirates once. It was beautiful and jolly and was stopped right as the voices started to lessen. There’s more to it, he knows. It was their last song in their last moments. It was gift to their final friend.

The only thing Luffy knows about the old crew is what Brook has told them and what he has heard from the song. But he knows that the song only ends because there is no one left to sing it.

Luffy has never heard the end of the recording and he’s fine with that. Brook is his crewmate now. His friend—his family. But this is something special to Brook. Between him and Laboon—the last remnants of a long dead pirate crew.

Still though, when Brook reunites with Laboon, he hopes he’ll be able to hear the rest of it. It’s a beautiful song. The Rumbar Pirates really were master musicians.

* * *

In their own way, the Straw Hat Pirates are a lot like the Rumbar Pirates. A jolly crew of good, if somewhat odd people. A lively, rowdy bunch of people traveling carelessly across the seas in search of adventure and freedom.

That being said, there are a lot of differences. The Straw Hats are a much smaller crew with practically no hierarchy or order. The Rumbar Pirates, while sometimes lax with status, were still a pirate crew. Friends and brothers in arms but still deferring to the hierarchy of every pirate crew. The Straw Hats, on the other hand, are as much a family as one can get. Brothers and sisters nagging and tussling with one another. Disorganized and chaotic. Had he not seen them in action, he might doubt how well they could work together. That being said, there is no hiding how close-knit they all are.

The Straw Hats are crash and often rough with each other, but never mean. They care, aggressively and wholeheartedly, for one another. They are loud, and vibrant, and lively, and in the short time Brook has sailed on their ship, there has never been a dull moment.

Brook has not felt this happy in years.

No longer is there quiet that his voice strains to banish. No longer is there darkness he can’t see the end of. No longer is there stillness that he desperately wishes to be rid of.

Brook is _alive_. He _feels _alive. For the first time in fifty years, Brook is _happy_.

(It brings tears to his eyes—ah! Not that he has eyes anymore! He’s all bones after all! _Skull Joke_!)

**Author's Note:**

> Headcanon that Brook only told skull jokes to (a) fill the silence and try to make light of his time in isolation and (b) try to cope with the fact that he's now a skeleton and probably feeling a lot of dysphoria about his body and the fact that he can't even recognize himself when he looks in the fucking mirror.  
My [tumblr](https://fuckusernamemes.tumblr.com/)  
My [ko-fi](https://ko-fi.com/loserlife592)


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